


Cool (Gay) Boys From Ohio (Not A Porno)

by KelloggsCornsnakes (orphan_account)



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, Humor, Josh-centric, M/M, Video & Computer Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 08:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7610872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/KelloggsCornsnakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh is just trying to deal with his breakup with Debby and get his life back on track when he and his roommate Pete start playing the game. They don't expect to become so taken with their new team mates but Josh suddenly finds himself very interested in his mysterious and incredibly cool friend, Blurryface. Meanwhile, Pete seems to have fallen head over heels for a player called Trickster. And, if that wasn't enough, they are also graced with the presence of Wish, who is just seriously insane. I mean, seriously. He should be locked up or something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cool (Gay) Boys From Ohio (Not A Porno)

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I'm so sorry  
> 2\. This story ruined my life. I hope you like it.  
> 3\. Here's some character stuff to clear things up:  
> Josh:Dunwithyou/Spookyjim, 20 years old  
> Pete:Wentzaway, 21 years old  
> Tyler:Blurryface(Blurry), 20 years old  
> Patrick:Trickster(Trick), 17 years old  
> Brendon:YouClickedYourHeelsAndWishedForMe(Wish), around 21 years old

October 22

Josh only agrees to join the game because Pete says if he doesn’t do something to distract himself from his ex-girlfriend and shut up about her already someone is going to murder him. This works because 1. Pete is impossible to argue with and 2. he actually has a point. Josh has spent the past few weeks living mostly in his bed, eating leftover Easter candy, and moping over the breakup. Worse still, he’s been vocal about his feelings surrounding it and it’s probably starting to get a tad annoying by now. As his roommate, Pete has definitely been subject to the worst of it. Josh would feel more sorry for him if Pete himself wasn’t the most annoying person he’s ever met, but he is still sorry.

The thing is, he just never really considered the possibility of him and Debby not being together. She had been his girlfriend since high school and now that she’s gone he feels like he has a hole in his chest he can’t fill with even the world’s largest supply of slightly stale peeps. He misses her like crazy but he also kind of resents her. The reason she gave for breaking up with him is utter nonsense. Apparently she thinks he’s secretly gay or something. Now, if you give Josh a few too many drinks he might admit he’s had a couple small mancrushes, but that’s nothing to ruin a good relationship over. He’s not gay. He wonders if all girls get that impression from him. He vows to start being more explicitly heterosexual by joining a sports team or shaving less often or even just wearing a big hat that announces his sexuality across the front.

Pete suggests that they hit the clubs off campus or stop by some of the countless parties he’s been invited to but it’s to no avail. Josh doesn’t want a one night stand or a new girlfriend, for that matter. He wants to feel as whole as he did when he was with Debby and that takes more time and effort than he has right now. He stays home and Pete goes to the parties anyway. He’s at least courteous enough not to bring his conquests back to the dorm but he does still talk about them. Josh invests in a pair of noise cancelling headphones. 

Its when he’s still laying in bed listening to sad music months later that Pete drops his laptop unceremoniously in his lap and tells him to make an account on the website it’s open on. Josh agrees, however reluctantly. He tries to think of a cool username while Pete digs through the pile of laundry on his bed to find his own computer. When he finds it, he cuddles up next to Josh the way he does with all his friends. He opens up the same page.

“Do you play this game?” Josh asks.

“I’m signing up now.”

Josh peers over at Pete’s screen and snorts. “Wentzaway?”

“Yeah, because I’m Pete Wentz and I’m walking away from your criticism.” Pete says but he doesn’t move from where he’s sitting.

Josh decides to make his username Dunwithyou and makes the appropriate joke at Pete’s expense. When they’re done with the signup screen, they’re taken to a page that asks them to form a team of five players. They can join an existing one or create their own. Pete clicks the create button and hesitates for a moment before calling the group Cool Boys From Ohio. Josh says the name sounds like a porno title but Pete refuses to change it. He adds Josh to the team and they wait for the three other required players.

Josh is surprised anyone actually wants to join a group with a name like theirs has, whose founding members both have puns for names, until Pete tells him they probably all clicked the randomize button. It ends up being them, a new player called Trickster, a level nine player called Blurryface, and a level thirty-six player called YouClickedYourHeelsAndWishedForMe. The last guy gets the award for longest and most narcissistic username Josh has ever had to read. He just calls him Wish instead. Wish is an enigma because there’s only a maximum of fifty levels to reach and he’s more than half way there but still chooses to team up with newbies. He says he doesn’t mind and offers to show them the basics. Pete has a conspiracy theory that Wish is an undercover FBI agent infiltrating the game to find hackers but Josh thinks it’s more likely that he’s just nice.

October 24

Wish, as it turns out fairly quickly, is a complete and utter asshole. If it wasn’t for all the rare supplies he has, he would have been booted from the team already. Josh is pretty sure this is exactly what happened with his old team.

“Stop killing us!” Trickster yelps into the voice chat, moving his character away from an axe blow.

“Don’t hurt Trick,” Pete says, as if Wish has suggested kicking a puppy for fun.

He’s grown attached to Trickster faster than Josh has ever seen him make friends with anyone. It’s true that Pete has always been a friendly guy but he’s never been this friendly before. Two days to fall in love is record time, even for him. Josh thinks he’s a hopeless romantic, key word hopeless. 

“Take me instead.” Pete says.

He throws himself heroically in front of Trickster and dies a tragic death. While he’s waiting to respawn, Wish laughs manically and collects experience points and dropped armour that he was the one to give Pete in the first place. 

“Thanks, Wentzaway. You’re my hero.” Trickster jokes.

After that, Pete decides that his and Trickster’s characters are married in game. Apparently it’s not gay since he respawns as a woman. Trickster goes along with it and Wish makes fun of them in a teasing manner. Josh wanders over to another part of the screen. Blurryface follows him. They find a small swarm of zombies and start fighting back to back.

Blurryface: Hey Dunwithyou.

Blurryface is the only one who uses the chat box in the bottom corner of the screen. Everyone else uses their mics but for some reason they choose not to. As a result, they’re the only one Josh doesn’t know the gender or approximate age of. He doesn’t mind. Blurryface might be his favourite of his new team members. There’s something strange about them that draws him to them, even if he’s never heard their voice.

Blurryface: I live in Ohio too btw. That’s why I chose this group.

“You didn’t randomize it?” Josh asks out loud, perhaps a bit too excited at the concept.

Blurryface: Nope. I’m glad I didn’t. You seem cool.

“Well, you don’t think we’d lie in the group name, do you?”

Blurryface: lmao

Josh wishes he could hear Blurryface’s laugh instead of just reading it but they have fun together nonetheless. They spend the next few hours talking and battling side by side. Josh likes Blurryface. Strangely, they remind him of what his relationship with Debby was like before they started going out. Somehow that doesn’t even make him sad.

October 31

For Halloween Pete dresses up as a slutty version of some character Josh has never seen before. He’s pretty sure it’s a female character and he’s pretty sure she’s from an anime but that’s just his guess. Pete is wearing an inappropriately short neon coloured skirt, a push up bra with no shirt, and he’s holding a giant sword. In contrast, Josh is wearing one of those grim reaper costumes you can get at the dollar store. It’s short enough that it reveals his jeans and only goes midway down his arms.

Josh and Pete go to the grocery store together and buy a big bag of candy to give out to trick or treaters. Fortunately, they do this before they put their costumes on. For the most part, the people who end up stopping at their dorm are drunk college kids but there are a few students who have children and bring them around campus. Josh smiles at all the actual kids who knock on his door and laughs good naturedly at his peers. The bag of candy is huge because Pete says they might as well have too much instead of too little. He tries to sneak extra pieces into the cutest kids bags and Josh conveniently “forgets” to stop him.

Later on in the evening, Pete ends up going to a costume party at a friend’s apartment. As usual, Josh elects to stay home instead. He takes out his laptop and logs onto the game. He can hear faint arguing but not what it’s about.

“What’s going on?” he asks.

“I’m going trick or treating!” Wish announces.

“You’re like twenty!” Trickster protests.

“So are you,” Wish responds “but you said you were going earlier. Hypocrite.”

“I have a baby face,” Trickster explains hastily “Besides, I’m taking my little cousins with me.”

In the end, they both end up going anyway. Josh tells them about the older students who have stopped by his dorm but the stories don’t seem to deter them. He wonders briefly what they’ve chosen to dress up as. He can picture Trickster as some kind small fluffy animal or maybe a cartoon character. He thinks Wish is probably dressed in an even more risque outfit than Pete is. They both leave their respective houses around eight O’ clock in Josh’s timezone. Then, it’s just him and Blurryface again.

Blurryface: Hey Josh

“Hey Blurry,” Josh says. “You wearing a costume?”

Blurryface: I’m wearing one of those white suits with a gas mask.

“Sweet. I’m the grim reaper I guess.”

Blurryface: You guess? 

“I dunno, I’m just some spooky guy. Spooky George or something.”

Blurryface: SPOOKY JIM

“Yes!” Josh laughs. “Yes, that’s it.”

He changes his username to Spookyjim. For the effort he’s rewarded with a collection of smiley face emojis and a link to a youtube video from Blurryface. When Pete comes home he finds Josh giggling on the floor of their room, watching a clip of a sneezing kitten on repeat.

“Damn,” Pete says as he strips off his bra “You’re in love.”

Josh knows that he’s right and says as much. This kitten is the best thing he’s seen in his entire life. He frowns when he checks his messages and sees that Blurryface has logged off.

November 5

Trickster likes to sing while he plays. Only, he seems to forget that his mic is on when he’s doing it. The first time it happens, Josh starts to remind him but Pete nudges him into silence and it hurts enough for him to stay quiet on subsequent occasions. Pete always has these big eyes on like he’s listening to a masterpiece, even though it’s really just lazy renditions of whatever pop song happens to be on the radio.

“You have an awesome voice.” he tells Trickster one day.

“Huh?” Trickster gets all blushed and embarrassed after that. “I love music.” he admits quietly.

“You should be like the lead singer in a band.” Pete suggests “I mean, wow.”

Pete isn’t the kind of person who lies to make others feel better so he must really like Trickster’s singing. To be fair, it is actually really good. Josh can appreciate that. He likes music too. He’s always secretly wanted to be in a band but he figured that was just for people with real talent, unlike him. He can play the drums alright but he left them at his parent’s house when he started college and he hasn’t picked up a drum stick since sophomore year anyway.

Blurryface, however, says that they’re studying for a music major. They want to be a singer and songwriter. Josh thinks that’s pretty cool at first but when he reads the sample lyrics they send him, he’s completely blown away. No “this is just rough” excuse can stop him from gawking at the video he gets sent of a song Blurryface wrote in high school. They’ve got a whole album’s worth of songs from their senior year. Unfortunately, their voice is at a mid tone and has a decent enough range that Josh can’t tell if it’s a man or woman singing. The album is called No Phun Intended, which is a pretty cute name if you ask Josh and, okay, maybe he’s a bit smitten with this nameless faceless lyrical genius who sings like a goddamn angel.

November 24

For Thanksgiving, Josh goes home. He hugs his mom in greeting and lets his dad pat him on the back but part of him doesn’t want to be there. He loves his family but being with them makes it undeniably clear that he’s lost a part of it, that person being Debby. They had been together for years. She knew his parents. She came over for holidays, of course she did. She was family, plain and simple.

The only thing left to do was to make it official. Josh had been planning to. They might have been young but it didn’t matter. They loved each other. He bought her a ring in early May. It wasn’t too expensive but it was a sapphire, her birth stone, and he thought she’d like it. He had told his mom about his idea for a proposal on Easter, the last holiday he and Debby spent together. Debby broke up with him the next week.

When dinner comes around, Josh sits in his regular place at the table and is more aware than usual that all his siblings have boyfriends or girlfriends. The chair across the table from him doesn’t seat Debby like it did last year, instead his grandma sits there and smiles kindly at him.

“Joshua,” she says “Would you please pass the mashed potatoes, dear?”

Its his dad who brings it up, finally, after an evening of the issue being ignored. “So where’s Debby, son?”

“We broke up.” Josh reminds him.

“Why’s that?” his dad presses him for information.

Josh knows he doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s got good intentions but that doesn’t stop his words from hurting. Josh says nothing. He stands up, like an idiot, and the whole room starts telling him to sit down. He tries to but his body wont let him. He runs.

He runs until he’s out of breath before he bothers to look up and find himself in front of his old high school. This is where he and Debby met. This is where he asked her out, where they had their first kiss, where he spent four months planning an elaborate promposal for her. Worse, it’s where she said yes to all those things. It’s where she used to feel the same feelings he feels. Suddenly, he's angry. He punches the wall. It stings but his head still feels worse. He calls Pete.

For all his flaws, Pete doesn’t ask about what happened. He drives over from campus. Josh gets in the car and calls his parents to say he’s sorry. Pete listens to the radio so he can have some privacy. They go home.

November 25

When Josh wakes up the next morning, he’s still in Pete’s car, even though he knows he got out at some point the night before. Pete is sitting in the driver’s seat, grinning at him and tapping his watch. Six AM. Oh god, Josh thinks, it’s Black Friday, isn’t it?

He grumbles an indistinct “Mmmf.” of disbelief, as Pete drags him out into the chilly Autumn air. They’re in the parking lot at the mall. Josh is momentarily glad that he fell asleep in his day clothes because he doesn’t know if Pete would have bothered to give him any.  
“Why are we here?” he asks, rubbing his bare arms for warmth.

They’re coming up on a block of book stores. Pete leads Josh towards the end of a line in front of one. Josh can’t see the beginning of it. Apparently, six AM is nowhere near early enough.

“We’re getting a new expansion pack, “ Pete says excitedly “Or, we are if we can get inside.”

They never do get inside. The place they’re in line for, a tech store, sells out of expansions packs within the hour. Pete wants to stick around but Josh is not having it. He’s tired, cold, and still feeling the edge of his headache.

When he logs on later, he finds out that the expansion pack provides several weapons and armour choices that you can’t get in the main game. Wish has multiple copies of each of these new weapons and doesn’t hesitate to use them to obliterate hordes of zombies way stronger than anything they’ve ever fought before. He hands out guns to his teammates like they’re candy.

“When did you wake up?” Josh asks, when they’ve all been fully outfitted and Wish still has an excess.

“Why would I ever go to sleep in the first place?” Wish responds smoothly “Excuse me, boys. I’m going to go sell the rest of these on the black market.”

December 7

Josh keeps listening to the songs Blurryface sent him. He goes home and asks his mom if he can pick up his drum set. He brings it back to the dorm with some difficulty and sets it up in the corner next to his bed. He plays random beats that don’t really go to anything but he’s thinking about the unfinished lyrics Blurryface showed him. Pete walks in, sees the drums, and walks out again without a word. Josh plays for longer than he has since he was seventeen.

December 24

Blurryface: What’s that sound?

“Pete.”

Pete is passed out on the floor from a self induced eggnog hangover, laughing obnoxiously in his sleep. Josh nudges him with his toe but he only giggles louder.

“What are you dreaming about?” Josh asks, more to himself than anything.

“Trick...” Pete mutters sleepily.

And, okay, Josh is done with this. Pete and Trickster are officially the cutest couple ever. Now, if only they could actually get over their damn feelings and get together. Josh knows he’s the last person who should be complaining. He’s definitely got a crush on Blurryface at this point and he’s never even heard their voice except for in bad recordings of songs from years ago.

It’s Christmas Eve. Josh has decided not to go home for the holidays, in part due to the events of Thanksgiving and in part because he doesn’t want to have to listen to his family sing Christmas carols. It’s the best part about being an adult, avoiding the singing part of Christmas. Screw holiday karaoke. He’s never doing that again.

Wish posts a picture of a man wearing a Santa costume in the chat. The man is tall and has dark, slicked back hair. He’s grinning at the camera like a maniac.

“Is that you?” Trickster asks.

“Whoever he is, he’s really ugly.” Josh teases, because he’s almost one hundred percent sure that its a picture of Wish.

His suspicion is confirmed when a second picture is posted, this time featuring Santa making a crude hand gesture. “Shut up.” Santa says.

A few hours later, Josh falls asleep and wakes up again. It’s the middle of the night, probably part way into Christmas day now. Pete is wide awake, standing to one side of the room, in his underwear. He has his phone in hand.

“What are you doing?” Josh asks and grabs the phone. He knows Pete is still drunk.

It’s lucky he does because the picture is an inappropriate one of the lower portion of Pete’s body. Josh is going to need brain bleach. He deletes the photo. For some reason, drunk Pete doesn’t seem to mind having his phone ripped out of his hand. He sits down on his bed, uncharacteristically calm.

“Do you think my Christmas present would be better with a bow?” He asks.

“Who were you going to send this to?”

“Trick.”

“You would regret that in an instant,” Josh says with a sigh. He’s kind of sick of acting as Pete’s second mother all the time. 

“Yeah.”

Pete lays down in bed and pats the spot beside him. Josh sits down.

“Trickster is so great,” Pete tells him “I just want him to respond to my advances, you know? It’s like, no matter what I say, he’s so distant.”

Josh pats Pete’s head in a friendly manner “He’ll come around.”

He goes back over to his part of the room but doesn’t give back Pete’s phone just yet. He’s confiscating it for at least a few hours. He wonders when Pete and Trickster started talking to each other on the phone. There’s something more than what he has with Blurryface right there. He’s not paying attention as he puts his boots on. It just seems like the right thing to do.

“I’m going to the store, okay?” he informs Pete but he’s already gone to sleep again, mumbling incoherent phrases.

Josh walks across the street to the twenty four hour grocery store and buys a chocolate bar. He considers going home after that but he’s not ready. He walks until he reaches a music store. He’s always known it was there but he’s never gone inside before. He’s surprised that it’s open and that’s reason enough to check it out. He looks through the discount bin for albums but there’s nothing that speaks to him. He wanders over to the instruments only because he is bored and doesn’t want to go home yet.

He buys it. It’s on sale, which is as good an excuse as any. It’s made of light wood and it sounds great when an employee plays a tune on it to show him. He knows he has to get it, even though Pete will be mad. Well, Pete can deal with it, Josh isn’t the one sending drunk nudes to people he barely knows. It’s almost a hundred dollars but he has to have it. He remembers Blurryface mentioning they were learning to play the ukulele once.

January 1

Josh waits a week before he wraps the ukulele up in leftover birthday wrapping paper. He waits until they’re alone in the game and then he tells Blurryface, somewhat ashamedly, that he bought them a Christmas present. 

Blurryface: You didn’t have to do that!  
Blurryface: Thanks Josh! <3 <3 <3

Josh asks for Blurryface’s address so he can send them the gift. He feels like a stalker but Blurry doesn’t seem to mind in the least. They send the address. Josh doesn’t know why he’s shocked that it’s so close. They said they live in Ohio but the address is in the same town Josh lives in, Columbus. Josh could drive over to visit them in under an hour. He won’t but he could. He could accidentally run into them at the grocery store and never know. Hell, he could have gone to elementary school with them. He could have graduated on the same stage they did.

He sends the package then he looks the address up on Google maps. Now he feels even more like a stalker. The house is nice. It’s large and friendly looking. Josh feels an uncontrollable urge to go there, just to see it in real life. 

He almost does. He’s ready to borrow Pete’s car just to swing by and see the place where Blurryface grew up. Of course, that’s totally insane. He cuts himself short. Then, as punishment for his temporary insanity, he doesn’t talk to Blurryface for another week.

January 9

Debby calls Josh and asks to go out for lunch with him. Josh wants to say no but, of course, he says yes instead. They go to the restaurant they always used to go to and it’s the same as it was then. Josh even orders the same meal. Debby orders some new menu item, a piece of vegan lasagna. Josh tries a bite but he doesn’t like it.

Debby doesn’t suggest getting back together. Josh wants to kiss her but he doesn’t. He did everything right during their whole relationship and he’s the only one who ever had to suffer for the breakup. He’s mad. He wishes they never broke up. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about missing Debby or about thinking about Blurry. It wouldn’t matter. 

They talk just like they used to. They joke around and they even laugh. It’s comfortable. After about an hour, Josh maybe starts to understand why they can’t be together anymore. They’re not at that place anymore. She’s looking at him with love in her eyes but not with passion. Josh thinks he will always love her but it doesn’t mean anything if she doesn’t feel the same. 

He’s ready to move on, finally. He tells Debby he wants to start dating again. She smiles at him like she’s genuinely happy for him and he knows that he can never hate her for ending things. He moves on, as much as he can.

January 10

Josh kisses a girl he barely knows. Her name is Rachel or Rain or something else with a Ra. She’s lovely and sweet and she likes Josh. He takes her back to the dorm and tells Pete to leave. She tastes like fruity chapstick. Her hands move down beneath Josh’s shirt. She smiles at him.

Josh starts crying. He doesn’t notice when he starts, it just happens. The girl tries to comfort him but he just ushers her out with an apology. He closes his eyes and rubs his temples. Then, because he doesn’t know what else to do, he logs onto the game. It’s three AM.

Blurryface: Josh?  
Spookyjim: hi

Josh doesn’t want to speak because he knows it will give away his messed up state. He wonders why anyone else in their right mind would be online at this hour. Blurryface isn’t fighting zombies anymore. Their character stands still.

Blurryface: What’s up man? Why are you here rn?  
Spookyjim: feeling kind of down  
Blurryface: tell me about it if you want. 

Josh sighs and clicks on his microphone. “I guess I miss my ex more than I thought I did.”

Blurryface: sorry to hear that. You ok?

“Not really.” Josh starts crying again, just a little bit.

Blurryface: hey it’s ok  
Blurryface: no no no friend don’t cry  
Blurryface: I love my ukulele btw  
Blurryface: I’ll play you a song, ok?

“Okay,” Josh says quietly “sure.”

Blurryface turns their mic on for the first time. Josh hears the beginning strum of strings and then the tune picks up into a full on song. He doesn’t expect any vocal additions. There aren’t any. The song is an unfamiliar one, but it’s pleasant to listen to.

“Play it again,” Josh suggests “Please.”

Blurry does, then they promptly flick the off switch on their voice chat. They tell Josh through text that they wrote the song themself. They say that they love the ukulele a second time. Josh is glad that they do. He’s still crying but his tears sting less. 

January 20

Josh’s final midterm is for his mandatory English class. He never studied for it but he finishes fairly quickly despite. He’s either going to get a really good grade or a really bad one. He looks around the classroom with vague interest. Pete is still writing, hunched low over his exam, brows knit together. The rest of the class is full of strangers. 

Blurryface lives in Columbus. Things would be so simple if they had just decided to go to Josh’s college instead of the music school they’re attending. They could be right here in this room at this very moment. They could be sitting next to Josh. 

Later, Josh overhears Pete telling Trickster how well he thinks he did on the phone. If Pete passes, Josh knows he has nothing to worry about. When he goes online, he asks Blurryface for their phone number. At first, they’re reluctant to give it but they comply when Josh says he just wants to text. He saves them in his phone as “Blurry” with an octopus emoji next to it, and if that’s not proof that he’s in love, he doesn’t know what is.

Febuary 3

Josh and Blurryface text back and forth on a regular basis. They still play the game together, it’s just now they have a way to reach each other outside of it. They never call each other, though. Josh kind of resents that Blurryface knows what he sounds like but he still has no idea if they’re even a boy or a girl.  
Josh picks his phone up to call his parents and hears a woman respond, but she isn’t his mom or even his sister. He takes his phone away from his ear to look at the screen. It says “In call with Blurry” and there’s the octopus emoji and everything. Josh brings the phone close again.

“Hello?” The woman asks.

Josh freaks out and hangs up. Is she Blurryface? He considers the possibility that she is. He’s just heard Blurryface’s voice. Blurryface is a woman. Blurryface is a woman and he’s in love with her and her voice sounds nothing like what it sounds like when she’s singing but that doesn’t matter.

It makes sense that Blurryface is a woman, he thinks Yeah, she’s always seemed womanly. He knew he wasn’t gay. He wouldn’t fall in love with a man and he’s definitely in love with Blurryface. That’s it. Mystery solved. Later he gets a text from this aforementioned love of his freaking life who also happens to be a girl, thank you very much. 

Blurry: did you call me earlier?  
Josh: yeah by accident. sorry  
Blurry: np. my gf said she picked up and you just hung up? lmao dude

Josh stares at the screen of his phone. GF? Girlfriend. So, he’s determined that Blurryface is undeniably a girl but... she’s also dating a girl? Okay. So, instead of being in love with his straight male friend, Josh is in love with his lesbian friend. He can deal with that. He’s not happy about it but he can deal with it.

Febuary 14

On Valentine’s day, Pete has a date. He describes her with two words: hot and sexy. Josh doesn’t bother to tell him that those are basically synonyms and he didn’t need to use both. Pete wears a suit for the date, which is actually sort of troubling. Pete barely ever even puts on pants to go to class. Josh is half worried that Pete is over Trickster, until Pete says he has to mail him his present before he goes to the restaurant. The present is bouquet of tulips Pete stole from the garden in front of the library. Josh thinks Trickster can probably get half dead flowers in Illinois but it’s a sweet effort nonetheless.

It’s unsurprisingly reminiscent of every other holiday because Pete goes out and Josh stays home again. That’s just how it goes at this point. He’s finished his Easter candy now but nibbles on leftovers from Halloween. He’ll buy cheap marked down chocolates in the morning but for now he’s a little bit bitter about Valentine’s day. It’s only fair that he gets to be.

He kills zombies and that makes him feel a lot better. Blurryface is off on a date with their girlfriend, Jenna.Wish is absent too. He’s married and spending the day with his wife. How someone like Wish could ever settle down is beyond Josh. He remembers the image from Christmas. So, maybe he’s pretty attractive objectively. His personality is still a ticking time bomb.

Trickster is online, though. He helps Josh defeat a horde of running zombies and overtake their base. It’s weird to see him do so so ruthlessly because he’s such a soft guy when he speaks. In some ways, he’s kind of like a kid. Josh thinks Trickster’s at least a year or so younger than he is.

“So, Wentzaway has a date?” Trickster asks.

“Yeah.” 

“You don’t?”

“No,” Josh rubs his temple with his free hand as he blasts away an enemy “How about you?”

“I don’t think anyone around here likes me enough for that. I’m too... I don’t know. I’m too something.”

“We like you,” Josh assures him “I like you. Pete really likes you.”

“I like you too, Spookyjim.” Trickster laughs “And I also really like Wentzaway. Or, uh, Pete.”

“It’s weird that we don’t use each other’s real names.” Josh comments.

“Is your real name Jim?” 

“No, my username’s from a joke Blurry made.”

“Oh, well, my real name’s Patrick.”

“I’m Josh. Pleased to meet you, Patrick.” Josh truly is.

March 10

Josh decides, screw it, he’s going to a party. The one he goes to is just a birthday party for one of Pete’s friends, who he also has a few classes with. It’s nothing too intense but it’s a start. It’s in a pub but there’s hardly any drinking. That’s good, because Josh is still twenty and he’s not ready to be pressured into breaking the law just yet.

He has fun. He dances with strangers. He talks to classmates. It’s nothing too intense all at once but it’s fun. He meets a girl. Her name is Ashley. When he’s dancing with her, Pete takes his phone and takes pictures of them together.

Josh is in a good mood. He looks over the photos and doesn’t entirely hate his awkward dance moves or the goofy smile on his face. He needs to redye his hair because the colour’s fading but that’s the only thing that bothers him. He sends a photo to Blurryface with the caption "Party hard!!”.

He’s surprised to disbelief when Blurryface sends a picture back. It’s a picture of a group of twenty-something year olds smiling. There are two boys and a girl. The caption reads “I’m “partying” with my siblings”. Josh looks at the girl. She’s beautiful, sure, but she’s not what he expected. He’s never imagined this person as Blurryface. It’s shallow but he doesn’t think he could be in love with her, at least not if they had first met in person. 

He looks at the other subjects of the picture, Blurryface’s brothers. The boy on the far right stops his gaze. Damn, Josh isn’t gay but this boy is something else. It’s horrible, he thinks, that he’s sitting here thinking about Blurry’s brother like this instead of her. Five minutes ago he was in love with her. What’s wrong with him? Is he gay? No. Come on, is he? No, but Blurry’s brother is the prettiest person he’s ever seen.

March 19

Josh and Pete go to the twenty four hour grocery store together because they’re running out of ramen and pudding cups. Pete is wearing a unicorn onesie. Josh is wearing pyjamas with space ships on them because it’s five AM and he’s not going to go to the trouble of getting into his skinny jeans. They each pitch in for half of the cost since they tend to just eat each other’s food anyway. The cashier gives them a bigger smile than is necessary or expected for customer service.

“She thought we were a couple,” Pete announces, when they’re out of earshot “She thinks we’re banging, bro.”

Pete thinks it’s funny but Josh isn’t so sure. They go to the drugstore too because Josh remembers he needs to get hair dye. He picks red. It’s Blurryface’s favourite colour. He gets a new box of bleach as well, to get rid of the remnants of faded blue. He knows he’s ruining his hair but he loves the way it looks after a fresh dye job, so what can you do?

In the shared bathroom of their hall, Pete massages dye through the top of Josh’s hair with rubber gloves. He isn’t great at it. Usually, Josh would ask Debby to help him. They’re talking to each other now but he doesn’t want her to touch him as much as she used to, especially not like this. He’ll deal with stray dye on his brow because it’s far too intimate to let just anyone help him here. Suddenly, he kind of understands why the cashier thinks he and Pete are dating. Then, he snorts at the ridiculousness of the concept.

“I don’t know,” Pete says seriously “I think I would top, dude.”

Josh doesn’t think telling him that he wouldn’t want to top will help him in this situation, so he keeps his mouth shut. He’s been thinking about boys recently. Mostly, he’s been thinking about Blurryface’s brother. He has these soft looking pink lips. He has this pale, smooth skin. And he’s just ever so slightly toned. He’s hot. Josh has to admit that. He doesn’t even know his name and he’s never spoken to him but he sort of has a crush.

“Is there such a thing as being like half gay?” He asks hopefully.

“There’s being bi. I’m bisexual, man.”

Josh turns to look at Pete. He’s never considered what sexuality Pete is before. He always knew he wasn’t entirely straight. He knows that Pete dates women and men. He knows Pete has a thing for Trickster, who’s a guy. It just never clicked in his head that Pete was anything other than a college guy going through a phase. He realizes how wrong he is now. Pete has slept with as nearly many men as he has women. He’s not going through a phase.He’s bisexual. Bisexual.

“Bisexual,” The word struggles on Josh’s lips like it’s something he isn’t supposed to say. It tastes like sinning. It tastes like cookies stolen from the jar. It’s sweet. It’s perfect. “I think I’m... bisexual.” 

April 1  
Pete takes Josh to a GSA meeting just so he can see if he likes it. He doesn’t. It feels entirely too contrived. He sees boys looking at him and is terrified. What if they ask him out? He asks Pete if they can leave. They do.

When he goes online, he sees that Wish is causing chaos. It’s April fools day, so of course he is. His idea of a prank is going on each of his team member’s profiles and stealing all their supplies. Apparently he knows all their passwords.

He says he’ll give the supplies back and he does but first he gives them all a custom paint job in neon pink. It costs real money to change the colour of weapons and armour, so their team ends up being completely pink. Josh has to turn down the brightness on his screen to be able to see. He wonders how much Wish spent on this joke. Wish says five hundred dollars but Josh is not inclined to believe anything he says.

April 7

Josh invites Debby over. They spend the day watching a marathon of the all the TV shows they used to watch together. She tells him she has a new boyfriend. Josh is happy for her. He hesitates, but eventually gets around to coming out to her.

“I’m not entirely sure,” He adds “But I think I am.”

When Debby leaves to go home, she gives Josh a kiss on the cheek. He tries not to mind but the spot burns with memories. He goes online. For whatever reason, he decides that today is the day. He’s sick of hiding any part of him. He thinks he’s been holding back for Blurryface’s sake but they’re dating a girl anyway, so why should it matter? He’s excited about this new aspect of his identity.

“I’m bisexual.” he says by way of greeting.

“Me too,” Pete adds, looking up from his computer. He gives Josh a thumbs up.

Blurryface: omg me too wtf  
Blurryface: Wish? Trick? you too or?

“Yeah, I’ve kissed guys,” Wish tells them.

“Hell yeah! Let’s change this thing to gay boys from Ohio.” Pete laughs.

“I have to go.” Trickster says suddenly.

He logs out before anyone can say their goodbyes. Pete and Josh exchange worried glances. Josh is pretty sure Trickster doesn’t really have to go. He’s not a kid. He hasn’t been called down to dinner by his mom, for god’s sake. Pete takes out his cell phone and dials.

“Trick, what’s going on?”

There is silence for a moment, then an “Are you okay?” and a “Yeah, no, don’t worry about it.”

Josh holds his breath. He stops paying attention to the game. He’s looking at Pete, who meets his gaze. He gives him a small smile as if to say he has it under control, then he steps out into the hall. 

“You’re brother is hot, Blurry,” Josh says.

Blurryface: what? Zach??

“Yeah, I guess. He’s smoking hot. I’m not hinting at anything here but I would totally date him if you set us up.”

April 20

When Josh walks into the dorm, he hears the distant sound of music. Pete is sprawled out across his bed, one hand travelling up and down in his pants and the other clasped over his mouth as if he’s trying to silence himself. He looks up at the sound of the door opening, then down again immediately. He hesitates but his fingers don’t stop their movements.

“Dude, gross.” Josh scolds.

The music stops. “What?” A voice comes from the phone on Pete’s bedside table. It’s on speaker phone.

Pete quickly retracts his hand. “Nothing. Keep going.”

“Okay.” Josh recognizes the voice as Trickster’s. 

The song resumes but thankfully, Pete doesn’t move. Josh gives him a disgusted look.

“What the hell?” he stage whispers.

Pete just shoots him a guilty expression, before picking his phone up to praise Trickster’s singing. He waves Josh away. Josh grabs the jacket he came in to get and leaves. He’s not ready to deal with this shit. He sleeps over at his friend Mark’s apartment.

April 21

Josh sits across from Pete in the cafeteria at breakfast. Or, in whatever it is you call those college cafeterias. Same thing. Pete is eating a bowl of captain crunch. Josh drops a banana in front of him.

“Sure you wouldn’t prefer this?” he asks cheekily.

Pete frowns at him like he’s actually hurt, which is such an unfamiliar look on his face that Josh gets a bit worried. He reaches out to touch his shoulder kindly.

“I didn’t mean anything by that,” he assures “And I can give you guys privacy if you want. I was just shocked that you’re, you know, having phone sex with Trickster, or whatever.”

Pete mutters something Josh can’t hear properly.

“Sorry?”

“I said, I’m not.”

“Then what was that last night?” Josh is genuinely confused.

“Trick was practising for a choir concert. I was just... enjoying the show.”

“Shit. He doesn’t know you’re using his voice to get off?”

“It was one time.” Pete grumbles. 

Pete has a dark aura about him that Josh isn’t used to. He tries to fix him by suggesting they skip class and do something crazy but it doesn’t work. He’s at his wits end. He figures it’s something that will just sort itself out.

May 2

“I asked him.” Pete announces, as if he’s continuing a previous conversation.

Josh raises an eyebrow. He doesn’t even have to ask who or what because he’s known Pete so long. The who is Trickster. There’s no one else it would be. The what is, well, Pete will tell him in a second even if he doesn’t ask.

“I called Trick and asked if he wanted to have phone sex with me.” Pete falls onto his bed with no excess grace. He buries his face in his pillow.

“What did he say?”

“His mom answered.”

Josh tries not to laugh but it’s too funny for him to help himself. It’s made even more hilarious when he goes online. Trickster seems to have no idea of Pete’s intentions at all. With Blurryface and Wish both not knowing what’s happening too, the whole situation plays like a comedy show.

“So, my mom thought Wentzaway was calling for my sister and grounded her,” Trickster relays to them “What exactly did you say to her?”

“Just stuff,” Pete lies lamely “She’s clearly way too overprotective.”

May 12

Blurryface posts a photo. Josh can’t stop looking at it. It’s of a man’s naked boy. His bare torso is muscular and tattooed. His face is cut off. There is, however, a great view of his lower regions. Actually, it’s better than great. Josh figures he should take advantage of the situation and at least try to enjoy these things.

Blurryface: oops  
Blurryface: shit  
Blurryface: that was an accident SORRY. I meant to delete that not post it.

Josh doesn’t have time to process why Blurryface has a nude picture of a man or why the body looks familiar because Wish logs on at that moment.  
“Ooh. Are we sharing?”

Wish posts his own picture. Josh figures it’s probably appealing, in it’s own strange way, to plenty of people but he seriously doesn’t want to look at that. He logs out. No way. He’s going to need to get out the brain bleach again.

June 25

It’s the last day of the school year. Josh is one year closer to a degree in something or other. In celebration, he buys a huge jug of fruit punch and drinks it all. He texts this to Blurryface, who says they love fruit punch. That gives Josh an idea.

Josh: We should hang out! We live in the same town. Come over and drink fruit punch with me!

It takes a minute for Blurry to respond. Their answer is disappointing. They say they’re leaving the state to stay with their grandparents all summer. Josh hates how inconvenient it is.

Josh: When are you going?  
Blurry: already left :(

Josh agrees that it’s a very frowny face moment. He drinks fruit punch with Debby and Mark instead. He pretends he isn’t waiting for his phone to buzz again. When it does, it’s news he isn’t expecting.

Blurry: so I broke up w Jenna 

July 23

This last Easter has provided a new batch of slightly stale peeps to eat and it’s finally time to get them out. Josh kind of thinks they’re better this way. Then he thinks that he’s being gross. They melt and stick to a plate because it’s too warm outside. He should probably just throw them out, honestly.

Anyway, it’s summer. Josh goes to a barbeque with his family, who he’s staying with. Then he goes to the beach with Pete. He’s glad to keep going places. He’s finally gotten his proper driver’s license so he can drive wherever he wants and his dad lets him use the car for once.

He still has time left in the day. He decides to drive by Blurryface’s house. Yes, it still makes him a stalker but at least he won’t accidentally meet them this way. They’re in another state. He just wants to see the house. That’s it.

He hates that he’s memorized the address. The house is the same as it looks in pictures. He parks a few houses away, then he just looks at it. Blurryface lives here. They grew up here. The front door opens and Josh goes into a momentary state of panic. He ducks down in his seat. After a second, he peers out the window again.

A boy is standing in the yard. He’s the gorgeous boy from the picture. Josh is embarrassed to see him like this. The boy doesn’t know he’s there. It’s wrong. He’s beautiful but he’s not why Josh came. Blurryface is why, he tells himself. He needs to stop crushing on their brother. He needs to stop stalking them. He drives away with shame and doesn’t look back.

September 13

School comes back. So does Blurryface. They can’t hang out because college takes all their time. It takes all of Josh’s time too, so that’s pretty fair. They even stop gaming for a week or two because they can’t do both at once.

One day, Pete comes into the dorm screaming. This is ordinary Pete behaviour, so Josh says nothing. Pete gives him an annoyed look. He shoves a flyer towards Josh. Josh gives him an innocent smile.

“What, was I supposed to react to that? Sorry. What now?”

“Not now, loser. On October twentieth to twenty-second, AKA our game anniversary. It’s a convention for said game.”

“No way,” Josh looks over the piece of paper in front of him “It’s in Chicago?”

“We’re going,” Pete says defiantly “Don’t say Chicago’s too far, We’re going.”

They agree that they are and get the rest of the team to agree too. Everybody can make it down to Illinois for the convention. Blurryface will be coming from Ohio as well, of course, and Wish will drive in from Utah, but Trickster tells them he lives in Chicago. It’s a perfect opportunity. They agree that the convention, set on their anniversary, is where they should meet for the first time in person. 

October 19

It only takes six hours to drive to Chicago. Or, it should only take six hours. That’s accounting for traffic, too. Pete doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo. It’s almost as if he’s driving slower just to purposely delay arriving. Which makes sense, seeing as he’s been freaking out about the trip for a week. He’s bouncing up and down in his seat and he’s barely paying attention to the road, though, and that’s just not safe. It may be his car but Josh demands that they switch seats so he can drive instead.They are moving twice as fast after this switch takes place.

They’re on the highway playing one of those spot-the-thing car games, when Pete insists they stop at a gas station. They’ve passed twenty others like it but for some reason it has to be this one. Whatever. Josh parks. They need gas anyway.

Pete isn’t just freaking out anymore. He’s going completely bananas. He grabs a bunch off a shelf, before quickly replacing them and shaking his head. He keeps looking.

Josh goes over to the full length freezer thing and grabs a chocolate milk. It only takes a minute but when he closes the door and surveys the room it’s to a distinct lack of Pete. Josh doesn’t like the fact that he’s basically Pete’s mom but there’s nothing he can do about it. It doesn’t happen as often but Pete has done shit like this for him too. So, no matter how much he wants to just get in the car and leave so he can get to the hotel already, he searches the tiny store for a full grown man. It’s frustratingly hard.

Pete turns out to be crouching beside the slurpee machines, cradling a bag of mini doughnuts. Josh doesn’t ask. He buys his chocolate milk and Pete buys the doughnuts. Then, they just sit in the car for a while.

“I’m scared he won’t like me,” Pete admits after a few minutes of silence “I wanted to get him a present so he would like me more. But I saw these doughnuts and it was like, I don’t know, it just hit me that this is real. Tomorrow is the day I meet him in real life after a whole year of talking. What if he thinks I’m too weird? What if he doesn’t want to be friends anymore? I don’t think I could live without him, Josh. God, I think I love him.”

“Good. He’s already in love with you.” Josh says, because it’s what he believes.

He runs his fingers through his hair. It’s still red. Blurryface has said they like it in pictures. He imagines them stroking it. He imagines that Blurryface will feel what he feels, that the moment they meet there will be a spark. He’s looked at the picture of them and their brothers hundreds of times. Now, he dreams that he will magically become attracted to what they look like, that it can all be solved that easily. He definitely doesn’t think about their hot brother. His name is Zach, right? Josh doesn’t think about Zach.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Josh sighs “But at least we know were going to get along with Wish.”

Pete laughs “You know, I think we look better in pink.”

October 20

The hotel they’re staying at is booked full of convention attendees. They were extremely lucky to grab their room when they did. There isn’t another hotel for blocks and this one is notably cheaper than any of those less convenient options. It’s not the fanciest place but it does what a hotel’s supposed to for a reasonable enough rate. 

It even provides a breakfast buffet every day. Pete sleeps in through this but Josh doesn’t want to miss out. He goes down stairs in his fluffy complimentary robe and loads a plate with pastries and weird fruits. He adds a bowl of Count Chocula for good measure, then he walks out into the lobby.

Even in the early morning, there are a fair few people wandering around. The convention begins in only a few hours, so excitement’s in the air. Not a lot of these people stand out from the crowd. Most of them are men in their twenties to forties, usually white, and usually accompanied by others of their kind. Josh himself is one of this breed, albeit more noticeable for his brightly coloured hair. Some of them have elaborate costumes, though, so maybe not.

There is a boy sitting on a chair in the foyer who does stand out. He’s short and blond and a tad overweight. The difference between him and the rest of the people hanging around is that he has an air of uncertainty about him. He’s nervous. He takes his hat off and puts it back on a few times.  
The kid is also, well, a kid. He can’t be older than maybe a youthful eighteen. Josh considers himself a pretty trusting person but he can see a man across the room observing this boy in a different way than he is. It makes him sick. He may only be a few years older than him but there’s power in numbers, right? He walks over and sits next to the kid.

“Hey,” he says in the most nonthreatening manner he can “danish?” And, okay, maybe he shouldn’t just go around offering random people danishes.

“No thanks. I shouldn’t be taking pastries from strangers.”

“Okay,” Josh says and then, because he can’t help himself “How old are you?”

The kid makes a bitter expression like he’s been expecting this question but still doesn’t want to answer it “Seventeen.”

“Cool. I’m twenty. That’s like no difference. It’s cool.”

The kid squints at Josh “Are you hitting on me?”

“No, what the hell? I can’t just be nice? Well, screw you too, danish hater.”

He gets up to leave because he doesn’t need this. No thank you. He’ll just go wake up Pete and meet his friends. He doesn’t need to babysit this heathen anyway. Who doesn’t like danishes?

“It’s Patrick, actually.” The heathen says.

Josh turns around. "Huh?”

“Patrick. Or Trickster in game.”

Suddenly Josh is hit with the familiarity of this voice and these mannerisms. Of course this is Trickster. It makes perfect sense. This is exactly Trickster’s personality. He’s the nicest person Josh has ever become friends with but he’s still got an attitude the size of one of those mutated creatures that form when multiple zombies fuse together in the game.

Josh remembers that Trickster lives with his parents and that he doesn’t have a job and-Oh, that makes sense. So,Trickster is seventeen. He’s a high school student. That’s fine. He’s still their friend, only...only...only...crap. 

Josh is shocked into silence for moment, then says “Yo, I’m Josh! I’m Spookyjim!”

That’s when Pete stumbles down the stairs, all bed headed and unicorn onesied up. Patrick gawks.

“Please tell me that’s...” he whispers, trailing off.

Pete wanders over and steals a chocolate danish. "Who’s your friend?”

“Wentzaway, meet Trickster. Trickster, Wentzaway.”

Pete and Patrick are staring at each other. Neither seems to blink. Josh glances awkwardly between them. He worries for a moment that something is wrong but this feeling is swept away as Pete lunges forward and lifts Patrick up into a tight hug. It’s like witnessing the reunion of two long separated lovers, only in this situation that would probably be more illegal than is normal.

“Trick!" Pete cries excitedly once he finally pulls away but still leaves his arm around Patrick’s shoulder.

“Hey.” Patrick says, glancing warily over at Josh. 

They go back to their hotel room. Pete sits on the end of his bed and bounces up and down on it. After a moment, he remembers something and pulls out the bag of doughnuts. 

“Thanks,” Patrick takes the bag before lying back down on a pile blankets on the floor where he’s nestled himself “You know, I still have those flowers you sent me. They’re all dried out, though.”

Pete looks at Patrick with so much fondness that it makes Josh sad. He indicates that he wants to talk to him in the hall. When the door shuts behind them, Pete lets out this big dreamy sigh of relief. Sometimes Josh really really hates the universe. It’s things like this that make him feel that way. Pete is leaning against the door looking like a cat with a bowl of cream. 

“He’s perfect,” He says “He’s better than I imagined.”

“I have to tell you something.” Josh starts but Pete holds his hand up to silence him.

“He’s funny. He’s smart. God, he’s beautiful. I wish...”

“You wish?”

“How old is he, like sixteen? I know I’m an idiot but even I can see stuff like that.”

“Seventeen.” Josh corrects but it doesn’t really matter.

“They arrest people for less than this, you know," Pete announces “Intent or whatever. I’m just some creepy dude who drove in from another state to meet a sixteen year old boy after flirting with him online for a year. If I admit that I think he’s hot, I’m going to jail, aren’t I?”

Josh shrugs “You’re here for the convention, not just for-”

“Even I don’t believe that. And I do think he’s hot, Josh. I want to kiss him. What’s wrong with me?”

At lunch, they’re supposed to meet up with Wish and Blurryface. Josh readies himself for surprises. There’s always the possibility that Blurry is a teenager too. But they aren’t. He’s seen the picture. He’s ready. It’s time. There are no surprises to come.

At the restaurant, Wish greets them each with bear hugs. His real name is Brendon and he’s a college student from Utah. He’s just as intense in real life as he is online. He’s the kind of person who goes skydiving without even a day’s notice beforehand and ends up having a great time. He is their friend, though. He’s crazy but they like him.

Brendon leads them over to a table in the back that’s been reserved for them. At first, Josh thinks they must have the wrong table. Then, he looks closer at the boy occupying it. Josh blinks. Maybe he has something in his eye. No, it’s-

“Zach?”

“No, it’s, uh,Tyler.” 

Oh, okay. That’s fine. Josh sits down next to Tyler because everyone else has already sat down and they’re all staring at him. Tyler is the boy from the picture, there’s no mistaking it. That means he must be Blurryface’s brother. Why he’s here when Blurry isn’t, Josh wonders. Where is Blurry anyway?

“Hey, can you guys introduce yourselves again for my sake?" Tyler asks casually “You know that I’m Tyler, of course, and my alter ego is Blurryface.”

Sorry, what? What? Josh thinks he might be about to pass out. Hey, it turns out he’s right about at least one thing today. But he never thought Pete would be better at coping then he is. It’s a shocking day all around.

October 21

The hotel has a pool but nobody else seems to be interested in using it. Brendon takes advantage of the situation and strips with little hesitation. He dives in and splashes back up, shaking his head like wet dog. Tyler follows suit. Pete who, in all similar past experiences, would have been the next to lose his clothes, walks over to a set of chairs. Patrick sits down next to him. They talk and they laugh. Pete might wish they were both naked instead a little bit but he doesn’t let it irk him too much.

It’s October and the pool isn’t heated. Josh knows he’ll regret it the second he gets in but he drops his clothes in a pile anyway and slides into the cold water without too much hesitation. It’s frigid and it stings at his skin. He can feel goosebumps rising on the still dry parts of his arms.

Eventually, Brendon gets bored with swimming laps and goes back to the action of the actual convention. He puts his same clothes back on and walks into the hotel dripping wet with no remorse. Josh looks over at Pete and Patrick. At some point, they have fallen asleep together. They’re in separate chairs but their limbs are still entangled with one another. Patrick’s head rests on Pete’s shoulder. It’s such a sweet innocent scene to behold that Josh forgets that he’s been left alone with Blurryface. Or, with Tyler.

“They’re cute.” he says aloud.

“They’re my OTP.” Tyler jokes back.

Now, Josh is made increasingly aware of Tyler’s presence. He’s looking at him, just looking, nothing else. For a moment, he doesn’t think he breathes. This person beside him is the same person that he can talk to about anything online or in text form. He thinks it will be hard to tell him what’s going on in his head but it isn’t. He opens his mouth to speak and suddenly he’s recapping every mistake he’s made in the past year.

“I thought you were your sister,” he begins “When you sent me that picture, I thought you were her and I kept thinking that I should be attracted to her but I wasn’t. Then, I started to think about you in that picture but I thought you were your brother. So, I was hot for you but I thought you were your sister and I liked your personality and who you are as a person so I thought I liked her too. It was really confusing.”

Tyler is all flushed. “Does that mean you like both my body and my personality?”

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

Tyler smiles “Can I admit something too?”

Josh nods.

“I never went to stay with my grandparents. I was just too nervous to meet you.”

“I know. I drove by your house and saw you in the yard. I put two and two together.”

Tyler gasps and points at Josh accusingly “You were spying on me?”

“You’re the one who lied in the first place.”

It’s easy for them to talk like this. Tyler shoves Josh playfully aside and Josh retaliates similarly. In seconds, they’re having a full out war, laughing and splashing water at each other. Somehow it evolves from that into something else. Josh moves and puts his arms around Tyler’s waist and suddenly they’re hugging. It should be awkward that they happen to both be naked and in a pool while doing so but it isn’t. It would be with anyone else but Josh supposes things just work differently for them. 

October 22

After the convention, Brendon is the first to leave. He’s apologetic about his early departure but he has good reason to hurry home. The smile on his face is wider than it’s ever been even in the purposely deranged looking photos he sends them as jokes. 

It makes sense for him to be a father, in a way. It’s also kind of terrifying that a man who seems more a child than an adult will be raising his own in a matter of days. His wife is in labour with his first child. He keeps repeating this as if he can’t quite believe it. He tells his friends that he’ll teach his daughter to be a gamer. Then, he jokingly adds that shes going to call them Uncle Blurryface, Uncle Spookyjim, Uncle Trickster, and Uncle Wentzaway respectively.

Pete doesn’t want to have to say goodbye to Patrick but Patrick lives here and Pete needs to go home. They stand together in the parking lot. Pete leans in, kisses Patrick’s brow, and strokes along his jawline. He tries to leave but Patrick pulls him back by the collar of his shirt and kisses him back in the same spot Pete has kissed him.

Its the best they can do for now. Patrick graduates and turns eighteen in a few months. Pete gives him one final pat on the head before he leaves for real. He promises he’ll be at the birthday party. Patrick tells him not to tell his parents that because his sister told him what he had actually said on the phone that one time, and his mom still thinks he’s a bad influence. Josh agrees with her.

Tyler had taken the train to come down to Chicago, so he rides home to Columbus with Pete and Josh. He’s sitting in the backseat next to Josh, strumming a ukulele, his favourite ukulele, the one with the light wood that Josh bought him for Christmas. They’re entering Ohio, as he starts to sing words he himself has written. Josh watches him with soft fondness in his eyes. Tyler is mid-lyric, his hair mussed up, with dirt on his nose. Josh leans in and kisses the words away. Pete says he's going to murder them both if they don’t cut it out but Josh doesn’t believe his threats anymore. And even if he did, he doesn’t think he’ll mind dying if it means he feels like this.


End file.
